Even Rand Paul Admits A National Sales Tax Would Never Work

Kentucky's Republican nominee for Senate, Rand Paul, is running
away from his past support for abolishing the federal income tax
in favor of a national sales tax, according to reports on the
ground in the Bluegrass State.

The move is the latest walkback from the past for Paul, who
started out the campaign as some kind of libertarian-tea party
hybrid, unafraid to talk on national television about things like
the problems he saw in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Since
winning the nomination, however, Paul has headed in pretty much a
straight line toward establishment Republican policies when it
comes to his campaign rhetoric. The national sales tax shift
appears to be part of that trend.

Some conservatives have long called for the abolition of the 16th
Amendment -- which created the income tax -- and the creation of
a national sales tax as high as 25 cents on the dollar in its
place. They argue the sales tax would be more fair. Detractors
say it would hit low-income taxpayers the hardest, pretty much
undoing exactly what the progressive income tax structure was
supposed to do in the first place. Paul used to be one of those
who called for a national sales tax, according to reports, though
now he claims he never was.

On Tuesday, the AP
reported that Americans For Fair Taxation, a national sales
tax advocacy group, sent reporters a written statement from Paul
showing his support for the proposal:

"The federal tax code is a disaster no one would come up with
if we were starting from scratch," Paul said in the statement.
"I support making taxes flatter and simpler. I would vote for
the FairTax to get rid of the Sixteenth Amendment, the IRS and
a lot of the control the federal government exerts over us."

The AP reported that Paul's campaign "verified" the statement
when asked about it. Paul didn't seem to keen to discuss it
himself, however. He "declined to answer questions on the issue
during a campaign stop," the AP reported.

Today, Paul is more than willing to talk about the fair tax -- or
rather, his total disinterest in discussing the concept at this
time.

"I really haven't been saying anything like that," Paul told
reporters, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. Paul said "he supports a
simpler tax code, but the nation first has to bring spending
under control."

As the Herald-Leader wrote, Paul was on shaky ground
when he said he has "never said anything like" support for the
fair tax.

"He apparently meant he had not been saying it on the campaign
trail," the paper reports.

The
TPM Poll Average shows Paul leading Democratic nominee Jack
Conway by a margin of 46.9-41.7.